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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30107652">The Path Unwinding</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElphieRiaAddams/pseuds/ElphieRiaAddams'>ElphieRiaAddams</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fate: The Winx Saga (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Farah Dowling Lives, Gen, Memories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-20 14:09:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,524</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30107652</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElphieRiaAddams/pseuds/ElphieRiaAddams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Farah had always known that this moment would come.<br/>That she and Rosalind would once again face.<br/>But she had never quite thought that it would be like this.</p><p>A re-write of THAT scene in 1x06.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Path Unwinding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Something a completely different style from my normal but this idea would not leave me so enjoy some Farah based ramblings!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>How had it come to this?</p><p>How had she found herself in this forest? In this graveyard? After all these years?</p><p>She had never thought that this would be where they would be reunited.</p><p>Her mentor.<br/>
The woman she had looked up to for the longest time.<br/>
Admired.<br/>
Idolised.<br/>
Followed.<br/>
Obeyed.<br/>
Betrayed.</p><p>She knew that her betrayal had been the right thing. The good thing. The only thing that she could do.</p><p>But it had still hurt.</p><p>Still hurt to lock away the woman that she had, for the longest time, wanted to be.</p><p>She knew, in her heart, that she could never be her.</p><p>She would never be that whip smart. That savage. That relentless.</p><p>But that was OK.</p><p>Because she was not her.</p><p>She was herself.<br/>
Her own woman.<br/>
She was caring and intelligent and understanding.<br/>
So very different.</p><p>And yet still so very similar.<br/>
Both leaders of the same school.<br/>
Both had taught countless Fairies.<br/>
Guided them down the paths that would lead to their futures.</p><p>So it was an ironic fate that they would end up down this path.</p><p>The path where they first met.</p><p>The path that made sure that they were forever intertwined.</p><p>-</p><p>Farah's first day at Alfea had been less than stellar.</p><p>Her new suitemate, Luna, was a Princess in more ways than one and definitely not yet used to sharing. Farah had chosen to go and explore the grounds as an opportunity to get out of the stifled atmosphere of their suite.</p><p>Her wandering had brought her to this hidden glade where she discovered an old graveyard. </p><p>Whilst many folk would be superstitious in a graveyard, Farah instead found peace.</p><p>No more voices clamouring in her head for attention. Here she was surrounded by people she could not hear and she felt herself relax for the first time on Alfea's grounds.</p><p>Her relaxation meant that she missed the footsteps that joined her as the one mind shielded from her sought to disturb her fragile balance.</p><p>"Good afternoon Miss Dowling."</p><p>Farah spun around to see a middle-aged, blonde woman looking back at her. At first glance her eyes seemed warm but Farah still felt a shiver down her spine at the clear power she could sense radiating from the woman.</p><p>"Hello? I'm sorry, I'm not sure who you are."</p><p>Raised to at least be polite, if also forthright, Farah had not expected the Headmistress to be the person to disturb her solitude.</p><p>"I'm Headmistress Wyvern."</p><p>"Headmistress! I'm so sorry! I just needed some... freedom."</p><p>Farah finished a little flatly, not sure as to whether she was allowed to be out here.</p><p>"You are free to roam the grounds child, do not worry on that. It is rather... Unusual for one to find the graveyard a place of sanctuary however."</p><p>"Sanctuary? I like that. It's the only place I seem to get peace. Everything in Alfea was... Loud."</p><p>"Ah yes, your powers. We shall make sure that you can focus on controlling what you hear quickly. Then you will be able to develop the countless other skills I'm sure you will have."</p><p>Farah had missed the glint in Rosalind's eye that day. The glint that would have told her of Rosalind's desire to mould her gifts into a weapon that she could control with frightening consequences. No, instead, the naïve schoolgirl had been far more intrigued by the offer of knowledge, her favourite source of power.</p><p>"I hope so Headmistress. I'm so excited to learn more!"</p><p>"I am sure that you will learn things here that you scarce imagined Farah."</p><p>-</p><p>And learn more she did.</p><p>All manner of things.</p><p>Good and Bad.</p><p>Some, she learnt too late.<br/>
Like the mistake she had made to ever trust Rosalind.</p><p>Others she learnt too early.<br/>
Like the ability to fly.</p><p>Because she soared so high.<br/>
Too high.</p><p>Until, like Icarus, she crash landed.<br/>
In Aster Dell.</p><p>The way that her entire world crashed down around her had been more excruciating than any training simulation Rosalind had forced her to endure.</p><p>More painful than losing countless friends to the Burned Ones.</p><p>More horrifying than the distinct possibility that she could have saved all of those lives if she had just asked.</p><p>But she didn't.</p><p>There was only one reason she had survived it all.<br/>
Them.<br/>
The ones who came after her.<br/>
The children.<br/>
They should never have to know the horrors that she had experienced. </p><p>She vowed, the very moment that Rosalind was sealed away in the Undercroft, that they would never know the hurt she had caused.</p><p>And now, sixteen years later, she had failed.<br/>
Lost.<br/>
Rosalind was back.<br/>
And, Farah was sure, there would be hell to pay.</p><p>-</p><p>This time she did not miss the footsteps. The mind may still have been shielded to her but the resolute march told Farah everything she needed to know.<br/>
That Rosalind was on a mission.<br/>
One that would not end well for her.</p><p>"Hello Miss Dowling."</p><p>A bitter sense of deja-vu swept over Farah as she turned to face the intruder in her Sanctuary once again, all these years later.</p><p>"Hello Rosalind."</p><p>"How so much has changed and yet still, here we are."</p><p>"Here we are. What do you want Rosalind?"</p><p>"Want? Well that is quite the loaded question Farah. You see, what exactly should I want? A shower? After all it has been sixteen years. Or perhaps a nip of whisky? Or... Perhaps... Perhaps I would like some explanation. Answers."</p><p>"I'm pretty sure you already know most of the answers you seek Rosalind."</p><p>The knowing tilt of Rosalind's head told Farah everything she needed to know. Her former mentor was playing with her cruelly. Farah already knew how this day was likely to end. And the answer was not well for her.</p><p>But that was the point. The reason she had chosen her graveyard. She had been there for an entire afternoon, giving the former Burned Ones a proper burial. She had been sure that Rosalind would eventually seek her out but this time she would face the woman with all the advantage, even if Rosalind did not know it.</p><p>"I may know the answers," Rosalind continued, moving closer to Farah, "but I want to hear you say it. Tell me why. Why you thought that you would ever win. Or that you were ever powerful enough to destroy me."</p><p>"I didn't."</p><p>"Didn't what?"</p><p>Farah turned away from Rosalind, not wanting to let her see her face as she barely controlled her emotions.</p><p>"Didn't think I would win. And certainly did not set out to destroy you. So I cannot answer those questions Rosalind. However, the fact that you sense and mention my power, you always have, speaks more about you than me. Tells me that you are scared of me. Of the fact that, should I choose, I could destroy you. You used me because you knew that, ultimately, I was always going to be the stronger fairy."</p><p>Knowing the quickest ways to push the woman's buttons, Farah hit every spot she could. </p><p>Jealousy.<br/>
Fear.<br/>
Control.<br/>
Arrogance.</p><p>And it worked.</p><p>Farah could feel the building power in the air around her. She knew what would come next. Or some variation of it. She had seen Rosalind punish students in a similar vein too many times.</p><p>And, because of those memories, she knew just what to do.</p><p>For, whilst Rosalind had spent sixteen years incarcerated, Farah had not.<br/>
She had studied.<br/>
And researched.<br/>
And experimented.<br/>
And found herself to be mistress of many elements.</p><p>And, in that long moment, she knew what it had all been for.</p><p>Her mind reached out to Rosalind, a fiery tendril breaking through still fractured barriers. As soon as she had access, her powers over air stilled their surroundings as everything, including Rosalind, seemed frozen. Quickly drawing on water and earth, Farah fashioned a golem; a figure which stood of her height and build. Her final power, light, created the illusion of a doppelgänger, stood right next to her. As soon as the creation was completed, Farah stepped aside, hidden next to the oldest Yew in the graveyard as she released the air around them, time one again moving.<br/>
Her light magic held as Rosalind's powers wrapped tightly around the golem, lifting the empty vassal several feet from the ground. As she watched from behind the tree, keeping her concentration on the illusion, she saw Rosalind's eyes flash and the neck of the golem twisted in an unnatural position. As Rosalind lowered Farah to the ground, both women watched in fascination as the body was quickly swallowed whole by the earth, flowers sprouting over top as Rosalind turned to leave the graveyard.</p><p>Farah was nearly sickened by the leisurely posture her former mentor held, leaving the glade with nary a care.</p><p>And she supposed that she would think so.</p><p>That she had won.</p><p> </p><p>But she did not know what was coming for her.</p><p>Because the one thing she had always done.</p><p>Since the very beginning.</p><p>Was underestimate Farah Dowling.</p><p> </p><p>And it would be the last thing that she would ever do.</p><p>Farah would make sure of it.</p>
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